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Miss Playfoot, the daughter of a Christian minister, was one of a dozen girls who wore the ring, which is engraved with a verse from the Bible, to show their intention to abstain from sex until they married.

But the school told the girls to remove their rings as the wearing of jewellery contravened its uniform policy.

Miss Playfoot's lawyers argued in court last month that the school had allowed Muslim and Sikh pupils to wear headscarfs and religious bracelets, and her ring should also be regarded as a genuine religious symbol.

They said that under Article 9 of the Human Rights Act, the expression of religious belief had to be respected unless it broke the law or health and safety considerations.

Judge Supperstone ruled, however, that the ring could not be regarded as a proper Christian symbol, and therefore the school had not breached the Act.

The judge said: "The claimant was under no obligation, by reason of her belief, to wear the ring."

Miss Playfoot, who was returning from a family holiday in America today, said in a statement: "I am very disappointed by the decision this morning by the High Court not to allow me to wear my purity ring to school as an expression of my Christian faith not to have sex outside of marriage."

She said she believed the ruling "will mean that slowly, over time, people such as school governors, employers, political organisations and others will be allowed to stop Christians from publicly expressing and practising their faith".

She added: "Over two years ago, I was concerned at the number of teenagers who were catching sexually transmitted diseases, getting pregnant and/or having abortions.

"The Government's sex education programme is not working, and the pressure on young people to 'give in' to sex continues to increase. This is often because of the media's focus on sex and the expectations of others."

The headmaster, Leon Nettley, said the school was "delighted" with the outcome but regretted that the case had gone so far.

"Any suggestion that our school is anti-Christian is not correct. We have always respected Lydia's right to hold and express her views and believe there were many ways in which it was possible for her to do this during her time with us."

The judge refused the Playfoot permission to appeal, although they can still petition the appeal court to hear their case.

He also ordered Miss Playfoot's father, Philip, to pay £12,000 towards the secondary school's costs in fighting off the family's application for judicial review.

Rev Philip Playfoot, said: "This country is tolerant of any views except those of Christians."

The rings stem from the "Silver Ring Thing" (SRT) movement which started in the US.

SRT rings are worn by Christian teenagers to symbolise a pledge not to have sex before marriage and have led to an impassioned debate over religious expression and sex education.